Bob's Photos and Drawings of Comet Hale-Bopp

Last touched 2001 November 4
There are also images from when the comet was a morning object and during a full moon.

In 1996, we also observed another great comet: Comet Hyakutake. Bob actually liked this comet better than Hale Bopp.

Hale-Bopp from Skyline Drive

Here is Hale-Bopp on April 2, 1997 from the north part of Sky Line drive in Virginia. The funny things in the sky are clouds. Brent's 5-inch refractor is on the left. Yep, the Jeep's inside lights are red! Note the red California nebula, upper left. Kodak Royal Gold 1000 ISO film, 35mm f/2 nikkor lens, 45 second exposure.

An extreme wide angle shot from Sky Line Drive on April 2,1997 shows the slightly slanted dome of the zodical light to the left of the comet. Kodak Royal Gold 1000 ISO film, 20mm f/3.5 nikkor lens, 60 second exposure.

Taken on March 9, about 4:30am, from Skyline Drive, Virginia (3,300 ft!). Photo taken with a 20mm Nikkor lens on a Nikon FM2 camera. Forty-five seconds on Kodak Royal Gold 1000 ISO color negative film at f/3.5.

This photo of Hale-Bopp was taken on March 9, from Skyline Drive, Virginia (3,300 ft!) at about 4:30am. Notice comet's blue Ion, or Plasma tail and the red emission nebula in the Milky-Way above the comet. Photo taken with a 35mm Nikkor lens on a Nikon FM2 camera. Forty-five seconds on Kodak Royal Gold 1000 ISO color negative film at f/2.

Brent Archinal gazing at the comet with 7x35 binoculars on March 9, from Skyline Drive, Virginia (3,300 ft). Note the street lights on the Piedmont plain below Brent. The background light is light pollution from Washington DC. Photo taken with a 35mm Nikkor lens on a Nikon FM2 camera. Forty-five seconds on Kodak Royal Gold 1000 ISO color negative film at f/2.

This drawing was made from Bowie, Maryland, using a 10-inch f/5.6 reflector and a 12mm erfle eyepiece for 130x on February 23 at about 5:45 am EST. At the time, the comet was very bright - about as bright as Altair. Notice the "bands" that appear coming off the head of the comet, almost like detachments from a jet on the nucleus of the comet.